(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aerosol dispensers and more particularly to automatic aerosol dispensers.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Aerosol cans are used to propel a variety of active ingredients such as air fresheners, repellants and the like. An aerosol can generally consists of a cylindrical vessel having an upper part thereof closed with a lid having a standard rim size. The center of the lid is provided with an aperture through which a conduit is inserted, at the top of which is mounted a dispenser valve actuator and a dispensing head having a dispenser nozzle. The aerosol can is generally activated manually, by depressing the dispensing head, thereby actuating the valve and releasing the aerosol with the active ingredient contained in the can, through the nozzle. The dispensing head is generally protected with a cap, which is snap fitted to the can.
Automatic dispensers comprising a housing in which an aerosol can is inserted are known. For example, French Patent Application No. 2 623 780, published Jun. 2, 1989, describes an automatic dispenser consisting of a shell having an upper part and a lower part fitted together after the aerosol can is inserted in the lower part thereof. Other examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,916 issued on Dec. 6, 1966 to Phillips, U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,941 issued on Apr. 27, 1976 to Mettler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,718 issued on Oct. 5, 1993 to Muderlak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,283 issued on Oct. 14, 1997 to Wang. A problem with such dispensers resides in the fact that they are useless with aerosol cans having a diameter larger than that of the shell. Another problem with such dispensers is that they are expensive and complicated to manufacture.
There exist dispensers which may be mounted to the aerosol can. For example, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,886 issued on Dec. 6, 1966 to Goldsholl, U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,144 issued on May 30, 1972 to Winder, U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,176 issued on Dec. 14, 1971 to Sailors and U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,962 issued on Jun. 25, 1991 to Renfro. A problem with such dispensers is that they are not secured to the aerosol can. For example, such an automatic dispenser may fall off the aerosol can and be permanently damaged. Moreover, they remain bulky, which is unattractive to customers.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an inexpensive automatic aerosol dispenser device that could be used with an aerosol can of any size, and that could be secured thereto.